Summary

Reports the first results of a study on how increased awareness of food safety can influence consumer behaviour regarding specific products. Looks into consumer attitudes towards organic apples by means of a survey conducted among customers of large retail outlets located in Emilia-Romagna (Italy). Analyses consumer attitudes toward organic food, studying the price/quantity/quality relationship for this type of product. Consumers were directly interviewed at retail outlets, A questionnaire consisting of the following four sections was used: fruit consumption; pesticide abatement; organic fruit and organic apple demand; and demographic profile of respondent. Presents the results of the preliminary test phase of the survey. The pre-test results are quite encouraging and enable us to start the final investigation round. The survey will continue in three rounds over a 12-month period, trying in this way to override the relatively high seasonality of apple consumption.